Anatomy of my Waldorf Style Dolls

There has been a little bit of hoopla in the doll making world about what a Waldorf doll looks like under the clothes. Apparently some are unhappy with the quality of the doll and feel they have been deceived by a pretty dress that hides a poorly made doll.

I personally think that no one would set out to make a poor quality doll and sell it for a high price to scam a potential customer . Hand made dolls, like all hand made items are in their own right a work of art. There is much joy and satisfaction to be had in the creative process. It is stimulating, productive and tends to feed itself with such good food that the creativity only expands and gets better and more creative.

I know when I look at my first dolls and then look at the dolls I make now, my doll making process has went leaps and bounds and turned several corners. I like those bends in the road when my creative process is changing and I can't quite see what is ahead.

I want to do a show and tell about my dolls. Making a doll is an interesting and captivating process. No two dolls are alike.

I start with the head.
I put the "skin" on the head and sew it shut down the back of the head. This is what the head looks like after the back has been sewn shut and the face has been put on the doll. The hair covers the seam line and embroidery floss.



I pull the top and the bottom of the head closed like this:

I like to sew the head to the body with firm, tiny stitches.


I do the same with the arm/shoulder seam.

When it comes to my dolls legs I hand stitch the seams. I like leg seams because without them it is difficult to get a doll to sit. I like a doll that can sit and be more limber.

And then the feet. The bottom part of the leg is bent up and sewn together. I like my doll feet to actually look like feet and it took me many dolls to figure out a good way to accomplish getting feet the way I wanted them to look.

Little Jenny Wren has been a huge source of inspiration to me when it comes to doll hair and dolls in general. For years she has been making beautiful curly doll hair. This hair is made curly by knitting the yarn and blocking it and then unraveling the yarn. It is beautiful.

Wende, has hair that has been knitted and unraveled.

They say necessity is the mother of invention and I believe it. At the time I started to make dolls, I was a slow, beginning knitter. Knitting doll hair took me a lot of time. It takes a lot of yarn to give a doll curly hair like this especially if long, curly hair is desired. So I played around and devised a way to make "corkscrew" type curls.


Gabby

Libby

Hattie

Carly

And while the next doll does not have curls I could hardly leave her out. She is the doll that started it all. The doll that I finally got my nerve up to start a little store and put her in it. The first doll that I sold. She tells the real story of her maker.


When it comes to my dolls, I like to make them and dress them as I like to see children dressed and made over. I like side parts and bows. I like simple cardigans and sweet dresses. I like rosy cheeks and freckles. I like red heads. I like color. I like black and white checker boards, cherries and polka dots. I like Mary Jane shoes. Notice her feet :) they do not "stand up" like my doll feet do now.

I've been looking at dolls for over 3 years now. I've gotten to where when I see a picture of a child with a doll I can usually guess the maker. Doll makers all have their own flair and style and for some reason their dolls while all are different, are identifiable. One day I hope my dolls will be known for their own flair and style as "Folky Dot Dolls."